Editor 's note : In our Behind the Scenes series , CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events . Here , Soledad O'Brien tells users about her work with young people who videotaped their stories in post-Katrina New Orleans .

From left : Shantia Reneau , Deshawn Dabney , Soledad O'Brien , Amanda Hill and Brandon Franklin .

NEW ORLEANS , Louisiana -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Eighteen-year-old Amanda Hill sits on a plastic lawn chair in a gutted home , talking straight into a camera .

She looks shell-shocked , as if she has survived a war , and in a way that is exactly what has happened . Amanda and her grandmother lost their home and their livelihood as a result of Hurricane Katrina .

`` I know what it is like not to have the finer things in life , '' she says , `` and I do n't need that to be happy , but I wake up at 3 a.m. to hearing my grandma crying because she does n't know if she 'll have money to put milk in the fridge or bread on the table . '' Watch Amanda 's story

Amanda speaks these words on the very first tape she sends to us in February of this year . She is one of 11 New Orleans-area students , age 12 to 20 , who received cameras from me and filmmaker Spike Lee in January . Their mission : Take the cameras and tell us the story of your post-Katrina lives .

For instance , Amanda tells us her grandmother , Dolores , has mentioned suicide . `` All I could say was it 's going to be OK , when in my heart I do n't think it is . '' Dolores has raised Amanda since she was 11 years old . That was the year her mother died from cancer . Since returning to St. Bernard Parish , east of New Orleans , Dolores has tried to support the two of them while working at McDonald 's .

In early spring , 15-year-old Deshawn Dabney confides to his camera , `` I do n't want to be dead at 15 . I have dreams , a whole life to live . I want to be this huge entertainer ... and there is no way I can do that if I 'm dead . '' He has reason to be concerned . He is speaking just days after a neighbor , 17-year-old Anthony Placide , was killed by a gunshot wound to the head . The shooting happened only a few hundred feet from Deshawn 's front door . Watch Deshawn 's story

On another tape we get a few days later , Deshawn is interviewing Anthony 's 14-year-old brother , Jamell Hurst . `` I was shocked , '' Jamell tells Deshawn about his brother 's murder .

By now , I 'm a bit shocked too , by the emotions these kids are sharing on these tapes . Seventeen-year-old Shantia Reneau talks about her inability to afford the college of her dreams , Southeastern Louisiana University . All of the family 's extra money is going toward rebuilding their damaged home in the 9th Ward . They 're living in a FEMA trailer in a parking lot . `` I really want to go to Southeastern , but if not , I 'll have to stay down here , '' she says while walking along her damaged street . `` I did n't want to . New Orleans has nothing to offer , nothing , not a thing . '' Watch Shantia 's story

Nineteen-year-old Brandon Franklin is looking outside New Orleans , too . He wants to go away to college to study to become a band director . But it may be a tough road for him . He is raising a 1-year-old with his live-in girlfriend , Ivorionne , and they have another baby on the way . `` I feel like we 're a little bit too young for the responsibilities we have , '' he tells the camera in a strong , confident voice . `` But I feel like I can do anything I put my mind to . '' Seeing and hearing him , you want to believe it . Watch Brandon 's story

Amanda , Deshawn , Shantia and Brandon are among the approximately 30,000 students who attend public schools in Orleans and St. Bernard Parish nearly two years after the storm , down from more than 75,000 before Katrina hit .

On the day we distributed the cameras , Spike Lee told the kids to `` just go out and shoot , tape is cheap . '' With this cheap tape these kids have taught us all a powerful , infinitely valuable lesson that will stay with me forever . E-mail to a friend

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Soledad O'Brien and Spike Lee gave kids cameras in January

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One student 's neighbor was killed by a gunshot

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Student may not go to chosen college as family 's money goes to rebuild home